Samuel: Learning to Respond to Change 1 Samuel 3:1-10; 2 Corinthians 4: th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Samuel: Learning to Respond to Change 1 Samuel 3:1-10; 2 Corinthians 4: th Sunday in Ordinary Time"

Angelica Snow
5 years ago
Views:

1 Gary L. Bagley First Presbyterian Church Cleveland, Georgia June 3, 2018 Samuel: Learning to Respond to Change 1 Samuel 3:1-10; 2 Corinthians 4: th Sunday in Ordinary Time I still remember the event I was five years old. My friends and I were attending Vacation Bible School in my home church. Eleanor Hearron was our teacher. She had just finished college and we all loved her. The primary thing I remember about that VBS week was the Bible story she told during the middle of the week. It was the story of boy- Samuel who experienced the voice of God in the middle of the night while living in the Temple with Eli, the priest. I was impressed by the story that God would speak to such a young person and at Samuel s prompted response: Speak, Lord, for your servant it listening (1 Samuel 3:9). The story made such an impression that I asked her to retell that story the remaining days during that week after she had told the suggested Bible story of the day. The background of this story provides important insight as to how a younger child wound up living in tabernacle with a priest. Samuel s mother was named Hannah. 3,000 years ago in Jewish culture (and probably all other cultures of that time) placed value in a woman s worth as to whether-or-not she bore a child. Remembering that the Bible is not a science or a biology book, that 3,000 year old understanding of fertility was fully the woman s responsibility. If a couple had trouble having a child, it was fully the woman s fault. ( as it was in Abraham and Sarah s circumstances) Seeking a solution to fulfill what she and society believed about the fulfillment of womanhood, she went to the shrine at Shiloh to seek a religious solution to her problem. Her prayer is seen in 1 Samuel 1:11. In effect, Hannah was bargaining with God. If God would allow her to do what a woman in her day had to do to be accepted, then she would give the child back to God. Hannah and her husband, Elkanah, did have a child, naming him Samuel. When the child was old enough to wean, she took him to the tabernacle in Shiloh and turned him over to Eli the priest that he might become a servant of the Lord. 1

2 At Shiloh, Samuel was taught by Eli and slept in the same room with the Ark of the Covenant. Here he received the bulk of his significant training. And it was from Shiloh that he moved on to become one of the finest leaders in the Old Testament. For over forty years, he was the spiritual leader of his people, presiding over their feasts and interceding for them before God, serving as a prophet, a judge and an arbitrator in practical affairs. An interesting phrase was used to describe Samuel as a young man: The Lord did let none of his works fall to the ground (1 Samuel 3:19 KJV). This meant that what he said was wise and full of insight. This image is characteristic of Samuel s whole life. It had substance and focus from beginning to end. Two things in particular stand out in Samuel s life. One is the way he developed spiritually. From the beginning, Samuel was exposed to intense religious conditioning. As noted, late pastor of the Riverside Church in New York City, Harry Emerson Fosdick, once said, He crossed the stream at the narrowest place. His life with God was one of steady growth rather than the crisis-after-crisis pattern, which tends to get so much attention. This is important to note, because the Damascus Road syndrome that we looked at a couple of weeks ago is far more colorful and, if we aren t careful, it can elevated to the position of being the normal religious experience. In my first pastorate, a rather blunt, caustic, but likeable middle-aged man once said to me: Preacher, why is it that the only salvation testimonies you ever hear are the ones about someone coming from the gutters of society and becoming holier-than- thou? His complaint was a rebellion against what is sometimes projected as the normal salvation experience. The way that Samuel grew toward God is a good corrective. Early in his pilgrimage he began to encounter God and began saying yes to God. Consequently, he did not need the radical about-face that someone like the prodigal son in Jesus parable had to undergo. This is not to imply that there was anything mechanical or automatic about Samuel s spiritual life. He did have to decide for himself at each point. When the still, small voice of God spoke to him, it was Samuel and not Eli who had to answer. And 2

3 his answer was affirmative: Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. This became the pattern of Samuel s whole life and accounts for why his efforts were so significant. We need to recognize the validity of both kinds of experiences and not establish one or the other as the only way a person comes to God. Samuel is the model for a host of people who early in their lives are given an invitation to the banquet in God s Kingdom and who had the wisdom to sit down early and start making the most of it. The other thing that I find helpful about Samuel s life is the way he responded to the change at the end of his life. He found himself having to live through one of those turning points in the life of his nation. The Israelites had lived for 200 years in Palestine as a loosely organized nation. Gradually, the Philistines had developed into a monarchy and learned to make weapons from iron. They posed a treat to the Hebrews, a threat that could take them back into slavery. This loose political structure of Israel was no match for the Philistines any more than scattered Native American tribes in this country were a match for the organized Westerners who came to new America. Israel moved toward a monarchial form of government as well. At first Samuel was offended by the idea. It amounted to a rejection of his leadership as judge and prophet, and a departure from the direct dependence upon God that had been so basic to Israel s life. Samuel s first reaction was negative a conservative one. But what I admire about him was that he did not stop at that point. Samuel recognized that something genuinely new had emerged and that the simpler structures of old were not adequate for the challenges of the new age. So, through genuine struggle, Samuel changed his mind. George Bernard Shaw once said: Progress is impossible with change; and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. Samuel stands as one of the finest examples of a person late in life who changed his leadership style his mind as a result of understanding that the needs of his people had changed and society had changed. Several weeks ago during one of our Wednesday evening adult study sessions, someone asked: Are there any absolutes and if so, what are they? I confessed then that that question became an important one for me as a young pastor continuing to study and learn and grow. And the question from several weeks ago has been on my mind 3

4 since with two answers for me at this point: (1) to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves; (2) the truth ( you shall/can know the truth, and the truth will set you free (Jesus). I think Samuel held to thes two absolutes all his life. Gracefully, he/samuel changed in order to continue to be an effective leader of his people. This characteristic of being wise and full of insight never left him. Several years ago, I read of someone whose hometown was hit by a tornado. The only things that managed to survive, according to this person, had two qualities: foundation and flexibility. If there was no secure grounding or connection with the earth, the structure blew away. By the same token, if there was no give if something were utterly rigid the structure was demolished. This person went on to say that the same qualities are essential for both the people and the institutions who are called on to live amid the high winds of change. That is exactly what Samuel did so well. He had firm rootage in the past, but he was flexible as well. If you and I are going to survive in the kind of world in which we live, neither absolute regidity nor compulsive, destruction of tradition is likely to work. Roots and flexibility are the gifts God gave to Samuel. They are the gifts God wishes to give to us to make us wise and insightful followers. AMEN. 4

5 1 Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20) 3:1 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD under Eli. The word of the LORD was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. 3:2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; 3:3 the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. 3:4 Then the LORD called, "Samuel! Samuel!" and he said, "Here I am!" 3:5 and ran to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call; lie down again." So he went and lay down. 3:6 The LORD called again, "Samuel!" Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." But he said, "I did not call, my son; lie down again." 3:7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. 3:8 The LORD called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy. 3:9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 3:10 Now the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening." 2 Corinthians 4:5-12 4:5 For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake. 4:6 For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 4:7 But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. 4:8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 4:9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 4:10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. 4:11 For while we live, we are always being given up to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be made visible in our mortal flesh. 4:12 So death is at work in us, but life in you 5

6 Gary, Here is some info for a blessing over our summer camps on Sunday. I m not expecting you to use all of this information. I just want you to have a general understanding of our vision (as much as is possible since we ve never done this before!). Camp Growing Place ~ an 8 week vbs type experience Each week will have a fun focus but will involve Bible points, verses and an overall experience of God s Love! ~ Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8 to 5 Every day will include indoor and outdoor free play and structured play, arts and crafts, music and activities geared to the theme. ~ themes will be: Explore the Possibilities! (Science) 6/5-7 Let s Have a Ball! (Sports) 6/12-14 Dance Like No One s Watching! (Dance) 6/19-21 The Wild, Wild West! (Western) 6/26-28 God Bless America! (Patriotic) 7/3-5 Creation Station! (Art) includes traditional VBS Art Camp 7/10-12, VBS 9am-noon 7/9-13 Bloom Where You re Planted! (Gardening) 7/17-19 Make a Joyful Noise! (Music) 7/24-26 ~ teachers are Celeste Sumner (member FPC), Christy Michel (adopted frequent visitor and teaches at The Growing Place), and Kasey Arvold (member FPC) - helper, Tucker Sumner (member FPC) - Director, Clair Arvold ~ $75/week, $40 for Creation Station week to allow free VBS mornings Our children registered, to date, are: FPC Children Kids First Kids The Growing Place Children Our Community Abby Claire Zayden Zurie Klayton Levi Tayhtn (pronounced Titan ) Callie Bently Landon 6

7 As we get more paperwork in from the parents that are interested, I ll add to this list. There are 5 more (2 from The Growing Place and 3 from the community) from which we are currently waiting on paperwork and payment. And just FYI: The Growing Place Preschool begins the school year on Tuesday, August 7. Perhaps we can include our preschool in a back-to-school blessing of some kind. Fyi, White County Schools start back on Friday, August 3. Thanks, Gary, for valuing our children and our ministries with them and for taking the time to bless them in worship on Sunday morning. Clair 7

8 Stockbridge Presbyterian Church, October 7,

GOD ENABLES BELIEVERS NOT TO LOSE HEART 2 CORINTHIANS 4

GOD ENABLES BELIEVERS NOT TO LOSE HEART 2 CORINTHIANS 4 INTRODUCTION Paul wants his readers to know the immeasurable value of the Gospel. He presents the value of the Gospel in three ways. First, the content,